Devil in Blue
by No Heart's Throne
Summary: Aqua finds herself on a world darker than any other before it...and a devil waits for her...


_**Devil in Blue**_

_**Part One: Fallen Angel.  
**_

* * *

The wind howled soundlessly.

The sky above was black as death, with only the moon, full and huge, to offer any light through the dark of night.

But even the moon was almost blocked out by the rising monolith that erupted from the streets in the city.

It loomed over the silent city, as it had for the entire afternoon and well into the night.

Hours before, dozens of people had approached it in curiosity, wonder and horror all blended together.

None had made it to the gates.

The tower stood, and nothing had occurred since it's revival.

It was waiting.

Above, just beyond the mighty monolith itself, a few stars dotted the night sky, dark clouds slowly rolling in to block them out. There would be no salvation from even these tiny specks. But, curiously, just as the clouds reached to devour the last star in the sky…

It moved.

The clouds continued to advance slowly, the wind picking up, but the star still moved, picking up speed, darting from one spot in the sky to the next, seemingly falling further and further down until…

The star fell, shooting towards the tower and colliding directly into its side, nearest the highest level.

The impact shook the tower briefly, but stopped almost as soon.

Dust rose on the balcony alcove where the star had crashed…and faint coughing could be heard, along with the soft shift of rubble and metal against stone.

The dust settled…revealing not a fallen star from the heavens but a woman, with hair as blue as the oceans.

The young woman shifted, her metal shoes scraping the stone floor again as she slowly rose onto her feet, hand over her mouth to help prevent her from inhaling anymore dust, her sapphire eyes narrowed and teary, blinking rapidly. As the dust finally settled, the young woman's full figure was revealed. She was young, no older than twenty at the most and very beautiful, features soft and delicate, yet her eyes held a strength that betrayed her appearance.

Her attire was as curious as her hair.

She wore a dark blue and black halter top, with pink straps crisscrossing over her chest, with a strange silver almost heart shaped badge pinned where the straps met, black shorts and long black stockings that stopped just halfway up her thighs, showing their soft and pale flesh. Her arms were draped with white bell-sleeves that hung from two pieces of silver armor, her hands covered in tan fingerless gloves. Hanging from her hips were two skirts, one white and the other a dark blue as well, both swaying a little in the wind.

The woman looked around her surroundings, expression confused.

The balcony she stood on was more of a walkway, with pillars holding the ceiling above up, and red drapes billowing in the wind. The design of the pillars was odd and disturbing. Busts of nude woman being grabbed by dozens of skeletal arms, the expression of each woman unreadable and the same.

The woman reached into a pocket in her shorts, revealing a curious item, a star shaped gem with a crack on its side. After contemplating the item for a moment, she returned it to her pocket.

Aqua had no idea how she could have come to be here.

She shivered, and not from the cold winds that still blew.

She slowly approached the edge of the walkway, carefully keeping as far away from the disturbing pillars as possible. She looked over the edge, seeing lights in buildings below. But the tiny dots of light did little to ease her nerves.

She could feel an overwhelming darkness permitting the very air, invading her senses and threatening to overwhelm her.

She had never felt a darkness this foul or twisted, or experienced a darkness powerful enough unnerve her.

And she had lived in a realm made up of darkness for who knows how long.

Stepping back, Aqua lowered her gaze and whispered, "Where am I? What is this place?"

Imagine her surprise when she received an answer.

"Well, well! What have we here? A lost, little blue-bird?"

The water maiden whirled around with a gasp, eyes darting from one dark corner to the next for the origin of the high, nasally voice that had spoke those words, but she could see no one.

Then the voice called, "Yoo-hoo!"

From above.

Aqua's gaze shot up and her eyes widened, her jaw opening in another gasp when she saw the speaker.

It was a man, walking upside on the ceiling. But it wasn't that fact that shocked her. It was his appearance.

The… man's face was deathly pale, his nose long and hooked, dressed in a dark purple garb, the sleeves feathery, long nails curving on each hand, a strange, short gold skull topped scepter held in his right hand. He had a jester's hat atop his head, one ear red with a gold bell while the other was blue with a gold bell. His eyes…

They were black, but the right eye's pupil was a light blue while the left was a bright red.

He sneered down on Aqua, twirling and wagging his wand.

A harlequin, Aqua thought, sapphire eyes locked onto the strange man.

She forced herself to respond, to say something, anything.

"W-what? What did you call me?" Was all she could think to respond, the situation almost overwhelming her.

The harlequin laughed loudly and obnoxiously.

"Isn't that what you are?" he asked, grin impossibly wide, revealing stained teeth.

"A lost little blue-bird who flew into the tower and now flutters about? Although I must say, I've never seen a blue-bird as pretty as you…"

Her temper flared, the harlequin's taunting all too familiar. "Don't call me that!" She snapped, voice echoing through the cold air.

The clown yelped and jumped back, though his impossibly wide grin never faltered.

"My, the beak on you is sharp! You tweet…" He waved his wand out, mismatched eyes glimmering.

"But can you sing?"

Aqua was even more unnerved and couldn't respond.

The harlequin looked around suddenly, tapping his pale chin with a curved nail.

"Hmm, that's funny. Coulda swore I saw something fall over here as well…something bright."

Aqua stilled, her skin bristling.

The clown tipped his head, ear bells jingling as they collided and scratched the side of his head with his wand.

"Looked almost like a falling star…"

He returned his strange gaze to Aqua and his grinned returned, wider than ever.

And even more unnerving.

"Or maybe the star became a blue-bird?"

Aqua narrowed her eyes, expression betraying nothing.

"Where am I? Tell me, right now." She demanded. The name 'blue-bird' brought back unpleasant memories and she disliked this harlequin almost as much as she liked the fire haired god who had mockingly called her that before.

The harlequin tossed his head back and laughed even harder.

"Oh, I know! Are you an angel, hmmm? A fallen angel from the heavens, come to save the earth and its pitiful, weak inhabitants? Well, I'm sorry my dear, but you fell too far. WELCOME TO HELL!"

Aqua felt her blood turn to ice at this and the harlequin laughed once more, high and insane. He suddenly twirled his wand and pointed towards the end of the pathway.

"You'll find the devil waiting for you, just beyond that door! Tell me, pretty blue-bird: You ever dance with the devil in pale moonlight?"

Aqua couldn't respond and the harlequin didn't stick around for her answer. He suddenly began walking backwards, laughing once again. He vanished around a pillar, leaving only his laughter to echo in the wind.

Slowly, Aqua looked towards the end of the path.

And sure enough, a huge pair of double doors waited silently.

She looked back up at the spot the harlequin vanished.

"The devil… What is he talking about?" she whispered to herself.

Years ago, she had read several tales of lore from various worlds…

And that word had shown up several times.

It was used to describe horrible monsters, commonly called demons, that preyed on the weak and innocent.

But one book had described the devil differently…

A supreme being that ruled a nightmarish realm from an icy pit in the center of the world.

When she had asked her master which version was more accurate, he had said neither, that they mere stories used to frighten people into worshiping a 'true god' to protect them. Manipulation through fear, he had called it.

Her eyes returned to the door, before she turned around, finding another huge set of doors.

_A way out?_ She wondered.

She reached to touch the doors, but her fingers stopped mere centimeters away. She found herself looking back over her shoulder.

Though she could feel the darkness permeate the very air…

She could feel…something, just beyond that door.

It wasn't like the darkness that seemed to surround her…

But it couldn't be called light at all.

Aqua looked between both doors.

She had no idea where the door behind her led, presumably into wherever she was right now…

_Back down into hell, _a high, nasally voice whispered in her head.

While the door ahead led to the 'devil'.

Aqua lowered her gaze, her hand hovering over her chest.

Why the Star Shard brought her here, she would never know.

But turning away from danger wasn't in her nature.

Steeling herself, and clenching her fist over her heart, Aqua looked towards the door at the end of the path.

She moved swiftly down the pathway, ignoring the freezing bite of the wind and fighting back another shudder. When she finally arrived in front of it, she paused, staring at the large doors, before glancing back over her shoulder, towards the exit. Her eyes narrowed in aggravation.

This was unlike her. She faced all challenges and obstacles in the past without batting an eye…But…then so why…

Why did the thought of whatever lay beyond these doors fill her heart with such _dread_?

She clenched her fists by her sides, steeling herself and willing her nerves to calm.

_You ever dance with the devil in pale moonlight?_

"There's a first time for everything," she whispered and placed her hand on the door.

A loud groaning sound caused her to pull away with a gasp, and she watched in stunned silence as the doors pulled themselves open on their own accord, revealing a rising path ahead of her.

Above, thunder rumbled, and a cold wind swept over her.

Aqua shivered but her eyes did not waver.

With that, she stepped through the open doors and started up the path.

Silently, the doors closed behind her…

* * *

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.


End file.
